The Transformers Animated

Rating NR Formats DVD Genre television series Starring Corey Burton, Jeff Bennett, David Kaye, Tom Kenny, Bumper Robinson, Bill Fagerbakke, Cree Summer, Lance Hendrikson, Tara Strong Directed by Matt Youngberg Publisher Paramount

The Hasbro Entertainment and Takara-Tomy animated TV show, Transformers Animated has come to DVD on August 19. The show, which airs on the Cartoon Network, premiered in 2008, features 12 episodes (the final one a double-length episode) all of which are contained in this two-disk unrated DVD set. 

The Transformers Animated show is a little different from the live-action Shia LeBeouf film that came out last year, but it is based upon the same original idea. The first season traces the main robots, or “Autobots”—Optimus Prime, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Ratchet, and Prowl—on their adventures defending their homeland Cybertron and its most precious treasure the Allspark. They must battle against the evil Megatron and his army of Decepticons who have designs to use the Allspark for evil purposes. The battles lead the Autobots to a new planet—Earth—where they become superheroes to the humans and must continue to defend their own homeland as well.

The series has many stars in the actors who serve to give the voices to the Autobots and Decepticons. Some of the main stars are Corey Burton who provides the voices to Megatron and Ratchet, David Kaye who is the voice of Optimus Prime, Lugnut and Grimlock, and Tara Strong who plays Suri Sumdac, the Autobots 8-year-old friend on Earth, just to name a few.

The box set is minimal, with little more than the original episodes. The shows are well-made and cleverly animated. In addition to the episodes, the DVD includes on disk 1 an advertisement for a Transformers Animated video game for Nintendo DS. Also, on disk 1, there is a “Season 2 Sneak Peek Photo Gallery” of some of the animated scenes in season 2. The pictures are entertaining and fun, but not overly revealing of any great adventures to come. A big fan of the show may enjoy the features, however, because they do seem geared to avid watchers. 

Overall, this DVD is fun and entertaining. It’s a good DVD for a rainy day when nothing funny is on TV. Kids and kids-at-heart will love this show!